Welcome to the Future at AT&T SHAPE 2018

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

I loved being at the ATT Shape event with AT&T learning about 5G at Warner Brothers Studio Lot. I felt part of the future!

I saw a Flying COW (Cell on Wings) which is a cell site on a drone. Two of these drones were deployed in Puerto Rico and brought coverage to 13,000 users after Hurricane Maria.

I loved doing full body motion capture, live facial capture, animatronics with live facial capture and being on set at Warner Brothers.

I was able to see and hear the power of RED Hydrogen One when I met founder, Jim Jannard, at AT&T Shape at Warner Brothers Studios. Hydrogen launches on AT&T and Verizon this August with a “holographic” display. What phone do you want next? HYDROGEN ONE!

I noticed that AT&T and Warner Brothers really improved on what happened in 2017 at the first ATT Shape event. I really liked how they used the buildings and accessed the studio lot. I cannot wait to see what is there for 2019!

FROM AT&T SHAPE:
“SHAPE is an immersive event that explores the convergence of technology and entertainment. You can discover how the future of content creation and distribution will usher in new audience experiences. Get inspired by visionary speakers, and experience interactive exhibits from promising start-ups and industry leaders at Warner Bros. Studios backlots.”

What Can You Explore at SHAPE 2018?

Take a stroll through interactive exhibits that will demonstrate how technology is revolutionizing entertainment. There will be a variety of demos on display that feature a visual effects studio, full body and facial motion capture, drone and filming tech, virtual and augmented reality and 5G. Here are just a few that you can explore at SHAPE:

Full Dome Pro: Take a step into our 360 projection dome and get transported to the next level in immersive experiences. This is VR made social. No headsets, no goggles, no limits- just breathtaking shared virtual realiy. Experience VR you will never forget.

Open the Portal: –Mirror Rorrom, Electronic Countermeasure, and Open the Portal teamed up to create a hall of mirrors unlike any other. A stop motion character will guide you through an experience that transforms your image before your eyes and facilitates a thought-provoking journey for you to consider your own feelings about the future that technology is facilitating and your place within it.

KUKA: See how robotics can enhance the motion picture capture process. KUKA Robotics, in cooperation with their integration partner Motorized Precision, are demonstrating the KIRA 2.0 cinema robotic automation system.

Red: Sample games, movies, and other content on the RED Hydrogen One smartphone before it is released to the public.

AT&T Interactive Demos: Try out the latest full-body motion capture tech and create a live digital action scene with a fellow performer. See your emotions come to life on animatronics and robotics through the magic of facial motion-data conversion. Get some hands-on experience creating your own VFX video using green screens and the most popular visual effects programs. There will be live Twitch streaming for the gaming enthusiasts, and more.

Video Optimizer: Come learn about an award-winning, FREE diagnostic tool that can help you improve your mobile app’s performance and video streaming, while also helping to reduce data and battery consumption. Stop by, enjoy an espresso and talk to the people who designed and developed the tool.

Visionary Speakers at SHAPE

Be inspired by visionary speakers as they discuss how new technologies like mixed reality, interactive storytelling, emerging tech in networking, blockchain are transforming digital media, film, television, and gaming. A few of our featured speakers and sessions include the following:

Ava DuVernay: A writer, producer, director, and distributor of independent film, DuVernay will co-host our AT&T Film Awards finals and discuss her experience as an aspiring filmmaker. She is the director of Selma, which chronicles the historic 1965 voting rights campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Her most recent work includes her 2018 film, A Wrinkle in Time. and screening. Join her as we screen the finalists’ films in front of a live audience. Attend this session to vote for your favorite short and help determine who will take home a share of $60,000 in prizes.

Issa Rae: With her own unique flare and infectious sense of humor, Issa Rae’s content has garnered million of views online and she has received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress for her hit show, HBO’s Insecure. Issa’s web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl was the recipient of the coveted Shorty Award for Best Web Show and her first book, a collection of essays, is a New York Times Best Seller. Rae has graced the cover and pages of major national media outlets including Essence, The Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, CNN, VOGUE and TIME with appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America, The View and more. She’ll join us at SHAPE for an intimate conversation about her experience in getting to mainstream broadcast.

Brian Krzanich: The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intel, Krzanich was elected CEO in May 2013 after serving in a variety of technical and leadership roles in manufacturing and as the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). As CEO, Krzanich is transforming Intel from a PC-centric to a data-centric company. Under his leadership, Intel has expanded in markets like memory, modems, and programmable solutions while investing in emerging areas such as AI, 5G, and autonomous driving. Hear Krzanich talk about the new ways content will be delivered and monetized through immersive experiences, including how data and investments in 5G will transform networks to meet the growing demand for new entertainment experiences.

Brian McLean: In 2016, McLean was awarded a Scientific and Engineering Oscar® plaque for pioneering the use of 3D printers in stop-motion animated characters. In 2017, he received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Visual Effects for his contributions to Kuboand the Two Strings. In 2009, McLean won an Annie Award for Special Achievement in Animation for his work on Following the release of ParaNorman, he was named by Variety as one of 2012’s “Animation Elite.” Prior to LAIKA, Brian worked as a traditionally trained sculptor and model maker for print and TV ads.

Steve Emerson: An Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor and longtime LAIKA collaborator, he has contributed to all four award-winning films: Kubo and the Two Strings, The Boxtrolls, ParaNorman, and Coraline. Prior to joining LAIKA, Steve spent nearly twenty years working in visual effects as an artist and technical director. He has worked on many feature films and television series including The Matrix Reloaded, Transformers, The Dark Knight, and Sliders for Universal Television. In 2017, he received the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature for Kubo and the Two Strings.

Brent Bushnell: An entrepreneur, electrical engineer, software developer, and an authority in immersive entertainment, VR, MR, and AR, Bushnell also serves as CEO of experiential entertainment company, Two Bit Circus. Brent is an expert in the art of engagement and passionate about using immersive technologies to create new ways to capture people’s hearts and minds. The interdisciplinary team strives to create immersive, social fun and is currently building a network of micro-amusement parks featuring free-roaming VR, robot bartenders, an interactive supper club, and more.

Jess Fuselier: A community outreach, marketing, and data specialist, Fuselier pioneered a community outreach program to connect film sets across the U.S. with the communities in which they operate. An experienced coder, she co-founded Young Women Who Code, teaching elementary-age girls the building blocks of STEM education. As Manager of Research and Education at Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Initiative, Fuselier works to cultivate meaningful insights rooted in data transparency, in order to create resources that impact the sustainability of the independent film community.

Liz Manashil: In addition to her work at Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Initiative, Manashil is also a feature writer and film director. She earned her B.A. in Film & Media Studies at Washington University, and her M.F.A. from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. Manashil spent several years as a film critic for the PBS/Hulu series Just Seen It and has worked with distribution guru Peter Broderick. Her debut feature, Bread and Butter, was called “an absolute must-watch for women everywhere” by HelloGiggles. Liz is currently in pre-production on her next film, Speed of Life.

Ross Goodwin: Artist, creative technologist, hacker, gonzo data scientist, and former White House ghostwriter, Goodwin employs machine learning, natural language processing, and other computational tools to realize new forms and interfaces for written language. Ross’s projects—from word.camera, a camera that expressively narrates photographs in real-time using artificial neural networks, to Sunspring (with Oscar Sharp), the world’s first film created from an A.I.-written screenplay—have earned international acclaim.

Oscar Sharp: A BAFTA-nominated British filmmaker, Sharp is best known for short films The Kármán Line, Sign Language, and Sunspring, and upcoming feature Woolly for 20th Century Fox. In 2016, Sharp teamed up with Ross Goodwin and actor Thomas Middleditch to create Sunspring, the first film to be entirely scripted by artificial intelligence and produced widespread international discussion. Sharp and Goodwin followed Sunspring in 2017 with It’s No Game starring David Hasselhoff, in which the actor performs dialogue generated by an AI from a large collection of his past performances.

SHAPE Competitions

Every year at SHAPE, we host a few competitions to inspire aspiring filmmakers, creators, and developers.

AT&T Create-a-thon: Watch or participate in the AT&T Create-a-thon where you can shoot your short film at Warner Bros. Studios using select iconic cityscapes and backlots. You’ll have a chance to win a $10,000* cash prize for the best, completed film in a number of categories.

AT&T Film Awards: Come see the finals of the AT&T Film Awards, a short film competition for aspiring creators who are using emerging filmmaking technologies to tell their stories. Vote for your favorite short and help determine who will take home a share of $60,000 in prizes, as we screen the finalists’ films in front of a live audience and esteemed panel of judges.

AT&T Entertainment App Challenge: We’re inviting developers, designers, and creators to hack the way we create and experience entertainment in the App Challenge. Are you interested in developing apps for the second screen, or working with technologies like AI, VR/AR/MR, IoT, and robotics to disrupt content consumption? Then, this challenge is for you. When submitting your entry, we encourage you to consider all scenarios in entertainment such as monetization, social, accessibility, immersion, virtual assistants, usability, e-sports, or whatever your passion. Finalists will pitch their projects on the SHAPE main stage in front of a live audience.

Take the Warner Bros. Studio Tour and explore outdoor sets and soundstages used to create productions such as Gilmore Girls, The Big Bang Theory, and Argo. Visit the DC Universe and walk through the DC Comics Exhibit, the real Central Perk Friends set, original Batman Museum, where you’ll see the Batmobile Collection, and so much more.

Share your SHAPE experience on Twitter by tagging your tweets #ATTSHAPE and #SWEEPSTAKES for a chance to win a Razer phone on Saturday and a Samsung StarWars POWERBOT vacuum on Sunday. See the official rules.

We will continue to update the schedule on the registration website to give you the most recent information about SHAPE. We hope to see you in Los Angeles in June!

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Lisa Ellen Niver

Award-winning travel expert Lisa Ellen Niver has explored 101 countries and six continents. She also sailed on the high seas for seven years. She founded We Said Go Travel which was recently read in 222 countries.
Her travel videos have over 2 million views on her channels on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and YouTube. She has shared travel stories with her 135,000 followers on social media and the readers of AARP, American Airlines, Delta Sky Magazine, Robb Report, Sierra Club Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, and the Saturday Evening Post.
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She has been nominated for five Southern California Journalism Awards in the past two years and received 2nd place for her Jewish Journal article. Learn more about Lisa Niver at We Said Go Travel.
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